By IANS,
Hyderabad : Andhra Pradesh’s main opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP) suffered a setback Saturday when senior leader and former MP Bhuma Nagireddy and his wife, party general secretary Sobha Nagi Reddy, resigned from the party.
The couple announced their decision at Kurnool after holding discussions with their supporters. Some other party leaders of Kurnool district also announced their resignations at the press conference addressed by the couple.
The couple and their followers are likely to join the party proposed to be launched by Telugu superstar Chiranjeevi.
They said it was a painful decision as they were associated with the party for 25 years. Bhuma Nagi Reddy, a powerful leader in the district, alleged that the party was neglecting sincere workers.
The resignations of the couple is yet another jolt to the TDP. Senior leader and second-in-command T. Devender Goud had resigned last month to launch a new party for demanding statehood for Telangana region. Some followers of Goud also quit the party.
Meanwhile, TDP president and former chief minister N. Chandrababu Naidu said resignations of few leaders would have no impact on the party.
The TDP had recently expelled senior leader and former minister K. Vidyadhar Rao for organising a meeting in support of Chiranjeevi.
The actor is likely to float a new political party next month.
The politician couple said they had never been comfortable in the TDP, whether it was in power or in the opposition.
“My supporters faced police action during the TDP rule. There would be no future for us and our followers in the TDP,” Nagireddy told the meeting which was out of bounds for the press.
The meeting was held in a godown at Allagadda, which was attended by some 5,000 supporters and in the house of his close aide, A.V. Subba Reddy at Nandyal.
Nagireddy and his wife did not formally announce their intention to join the political outfit of actor Chiranjeevi but the people gathered there raised slogans such as “Jai Chiranjeeva”. Nagireddy said he would formally resign from the TDP Saturday and announce his future plans at Kurnool.